


A Soft Touch

by girl_next_door_writes



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:22:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25842031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girl_next_door_writes/pseuds/girl_next_door_writes
Summary: Luther needs someone to take care of him, because he sure isn’t taking care of himself, but will he accept your help?
Relationships: Luther Hargreeves/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	A Soft Touch

The yells of the crowd rang in his ears, no words discernible in the din, just a primal cry for blood. Not that they cared whose unless they had money riding on it. He had to get through this fight, not that it was going to be difficult, they never really were, so long as he remembered to fight back. That was the trick, not drowning in his thoughts about how he deserved this pain, this punishment. He was responsible for everyone he had ever loved dying. He was responsible for the apocalypse, wiping out existence entirely.

The coppery tang on his tongue as his opponent’s punch landed rather squarely in his face pulled him out of his thoughts and back to the job at hand. His vision a little distorted by the swelling around his left eye from an earlier punch, had his blow landing slightly off target but it was enough to knock this guy off balance and in seconds it was all over. Money exchanged hands in the shadows, curses and praise thrown his way as he left the makeshift ring, shuffling towards the area reserved as a ‘dressing room’. 

Slipping past the curtain that had long ago replaced a door, he sank down to sit on the lone bench and leaned against the cold concrete wall. Would he always feel like this? As if he were just waiting for some kind of second chance that would somehow make things okay. Not better, or fix it, just okay. It seemed there was always some reason for him to beat himself up, or to let someone else do it for him. Even when Mr Ruby told him that he had done a good job, that momentary bloom of pride in his chest was quashed by the thought that his best wasn’t good enough. 

“Hey Luther.” Your voice caused him to open his eyes, glancing your way and attempting a smile. “Let’s get you fixed up.”

“You know, the other guy…” he began but you cut him off as you placed a bowl of warm water beside him on the bench.

“The other guy is not my priority, never is.” You hummed, raising the damp flannel, and beginning to clean away some of the blood so you could properly assess the damage this time. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of calm in your presence, your touch was always a soothing balm not only to his physical injuries, then he felt guilt at allowing himself to have that moment of peace.

“Maybe he should be.” Luther sighed, winching a little as the flannel grazed over a fresh cut.

“And maybe you should shut that pretty mouth of yours and just let me take care of you.” Your words made the corners of his lips quirk up. This was a regular conversation between the two of you and he had never won a round yet. The more he insisted you should attend to his opponent, the more you insisted he should shut up and accept you were going nowhere.

A comfortable silence engulfed you both, the noise beyond the room seeming to fade even further into the distance as you tenderly dressed his wounds and patched him up. He would never admit it, not even to himself, but he had grown to crave your touch. The gentle caresses, the tenderness, the intimacy, made him feel light as if you had magically removed the cares that weighed so heavily on his shoulders. These brief moments carried him through all the corruption and hate that surrounded him on a daily basis. Not that he deserved these moments, or your touch. 

“I do wish you’d take less of a battering, if you think you can maybe manage that next time for me?” The casual tone of your voice as you focused on putting ice on his freshly blackened eye had him smiling and giving a small nod of agreement, almost a promise to do better.

“Would make you patching me up a lot quicker.” The words came out sadder that he had intended and at once he wished he could take them back. He didn’t want your pity.

“You saying you take so many hits so I’ll spend more time with you, Luther?” you teased and his eyes widened in panic as he looked up at you.

“No- no that…”

“Because if you wanna spend time with me, all you have to do is ask.” Your eyes met his and you smirked, his cheeks flushing a little as he dipped his head.

“I’m sure you have a long line of guys asking for your time, you don’t need a monster like me taking it up too.” He knew what people said about him, he was King Kong for fucks sake. You were far too good for him, beautiful and kind and unlike anyone he had ever met.

“Hey,” You cupped his face, making him look at you. He noted the slight furrow of your brow and a look of concern he had never seen in your eyes before. “you are not a monster, Luther. You are a good man, and I should know, I’ve seen enough bad ones.” He pulled away from you and got to his feet, dropping the icepack onto the floor as he moved across the room.

“Look at me. Seriously, I know what I am.” Turning with his arms wide, he put himself fully on display, every single inch of his ape-like frame, everything that he hated about himself illuminated beneath the harsh strip lighting. 

“I am looking at you.” Closing the space between the two of you, your eyes met his as you placed your hand on his chest, the rhythmic beating of his heart drumming against your palm. “I see you, and you may be a little broken, but you’re still good. You really wanna argue with me on this one or are you gonna admit I’m right, as always, and ask me to go get a drink with you after you get dressed?”

Luther chuckled, a bright smile breaking out across his face as he rolled his eyes. “You’re not gonna give up on this are you?”

“Nope. You need someone to take care of you and I’ve decided that should be me.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” He said softly, reaching over and brushing the hair back from your face. “You wanna go get a drink once I’ve cleaned up?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”


End file.
